● Retained in BNS
Criminal breach of trust means dishonestly misappropriating or misusing property you were entrusted with -- the definition in BNS Section 316(1) is unchanged from IPC 405 in every substantive respect. This is a definitional provision with no punishment of its own; the base punishment (up to 5 years) sits in BNS 316(2) (IPC 406, already published), with harsher terms for carriers, clerks, and public servants/bankers in 316(3)-(5), the last of which is IPC 409, added in this same research batch.
Section 405 IPC defined criminal breach of trust as dishonestly misappropriating, converting to one's own use, or using or disposing of property in violation of a legal direction or contract, by someone entrusted with that property or with dominion over it -- or wilfully allowing another person to do so. Two Explanations extended the definition to employers who deduct and default on Provident Fund or ESI contributions, and six illustrations covered scenarios from a dishonest executor to a warehouse-keeper who sells goods entrusted to them.
BNS Section 316(1) reproduces the definition, both Explanations, and all six illustrations verbatim, with no substantive change. The only textual difference is cosmetic: one illustration's example city is updated from "Calcutta" to "Kolkata," reflecting the city's official renamed form.
Nothing substantive changed. A pure renumbering with a single cosmetic place-name update in one illustration.
This is a definitional provision; it carries no independent punishment, bail, cognizability or compounding rules of its own. Those sit under the companion punishment sub-sections, BNS 316(2) onward (IPC 406 and IPC 409, both already published in this tool), which scale punishment by the entrusted person's role.
Summaries are for general information and are not legal advice. For the authoritative bare-act text, see the official Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 and Indian Penal Code, 1860 (full amended text, as it stood before repeal) on India Code, or the Ministry of Home Affairs' new criminal laws page. ← All comparisons